SMall Claims COURT OF Nova Scotia
Citation: Petrie v. Dave the Plumber Plumbing and Heating Ltd., 2019 NSSM 30
Date: 2018-06-03
Docket: Sydney, No. 484040
Registry: Halifax
Between:
Blair Petrie
Claimant
v.
Dave the Plumber
Defendant
Adjudicator: Patricia Fricker-Bates
Heard: April 3, 2019
Decision: June 3, 2019
Appearances: Blair Petrie, Claimant, self-represented;
Dave the Plumber represented by David Hachey.
BY THE COURT:
[1] On January 10, 2019, the Claimant Blair Petrie filed a Notice of Claim for $1,040.00 dollars alleging the following:
Mr. Petrie testified on his own behalf during the hearing of the matter.
[2] David Hachey, owner of Dave the Plumber Plumbing and Heating Ltd., filed a Defence and Counterclaim on behalf of the Defendant Dave the Plumber on January 21, 2019.
My reason for disputing the claim is: see Subject A attached & Subject B & C. I would also like to see invoice from MacLeod’s.
I counterclaim for the original invoice amount that is attached for the amount of $362.33 and finance charges of $8.57.
Subject A – Letter signed by David Hachey, Brittney Foote, and Kevin Merrill dated January 21, 2019;
Subject B – Letter signed by Gary Lahey, Burner Mechanic, on January 21, 2019;
Subject C – Cover note plus copy of Blair Petrie’s (Claimant’s) letter to GroupEcho Canada, Collections, dated November 5, 2018.
David Hachey testified on behalf of the Defendant company.
[3] The Claimant testified that the technician from the Defendant company came to work on his furnace on January 9, 2018 (see Exhibit No. 4, Invoice #18920). Invoice #18920 identifies the work done by the Defendant company:
Changed out circular pump on boiler that was very noisy.
(Needs leak fixed on boiler return. Book back call for more detail. Add back to job list. Call customer and let know we will have book in to do it for him.)
He claims that the furnace started leaking water after the service call by the Defendant company on January 9, 2018. He maintained that the Defendant company’s technician pried up on the water pipe at the elbow, causing the leak to grow from a drip to a full-blown leak. This, the Claimant alleges, caused the furnace’s motor to run longer to heat the house because of the water leaking onto the basement floor. To support this contention, the Claimant put together some estimates amounting to a total of $1,042.77 (see Exhibit No. 1, handwritten note attached to picture) albeit the Claim is for $1040.00. No receipts or bills or work estimates were introduced by the Claimant to either substantiate or establish a baseline for those calculations.
[4] The Claimant hired MacLeod’s Plumbing & Heating approximately eight (8) months later to fix the leak. On October 24, 2018, a technician from MacLeod’s Plumbing & Heating attended at the Claimant’s residence and fixed the leak on the heating line and moved the shut-off valve from bottom to top (see Exhibit No. 2). Neither that technician nor representatives of MacLeod’s Plumbing & Heating were subpoenaed or otherwise called to give evidence.
[5] Based on the invoices before the Court, the Respondent company did work at the Claimant’s home on January 9, 2018; January 31, 2018; and September 10, 2018 (see Exhibit 4). The Claimant paid the first two invoices promptly but refused to pay the third invoice in the amount of $362.23 from September 10, 2018.
[6] On Invoice 19079 dated January 31, 2019, is the notation: “Also would like us to return in warmer weather to drain down heating system to repair a drip on an elbow above heating circulator.”
[7] David Hachey for the Respondent company testified he has been in business for 12 years, employs 14 employees and is a service-based company. He advised the Court that he was seeking the unpaid invoice from September 10, 2018, of $362.23, but no other costs. He stated that the elbow on the Claimant's furnace was lifted to change out the circulation pump on the first service call on January 9, 2018. He testified that once the system was up and running, the technician noticed a small leak. Such a leak, according to Mr. Hachey, usually occurs in old pipes. It was his understanding that the Claimant wanted to wait for summer to fix the leak as the drip was not bad. Mr. Hachey testified that the burner, which is attached to the furnace, and the heating system are distinct from each other, that a burner mechanic works on the burner and a plumber on the heating system. According to the notations on the January 31, 2018 invoice, “customer requires a burner technician for a noisy burner.” Mr. Hachey questioned why the Claimant waited for over eight (8) months to call the Defendant company to repair the leak related to the heating system.
DECISION OF THE COURT
[8] There is no dispute between the parties that the Defendant company completed work on the Claimant’s furnace on January 9, 2018 (problem: noisy circulator pump; replaced existing circulator pump); and January 31, 2018 (problem: furnace blow-off valve continuously running; system shut down for repair and turned back on and tested). The Claimant paid the invoices for both those service calls. On the invoice for the January 31, 2018 service call is the following notation: “Customer requires a burner technician for a noisy burner. Also would like us to return in warmer weather to drain down heating system to repair a drip on an elbow above heating circulator”: see Exhibit 4, Invoice No. 19079.
[9] The Defendant company returned to the Claimant’s residence on September 10, 2018 to service the leak. According to the invoice, the following work was completed: “Drained down boiler system and cut out section of copper pipe that was leaking at 90 elbow. Installed new drain valve on boiler and 2 new bleeder valves on rads. Got water back on and system bled of air. Tested heat and all rads where (sic) getting hot”: see Exhibit 4, Invoice No. 20886. The Claimant refused to pay. He testified that he was not satisfied with the service, that the leak persisted and that he didn’t trust Dave. Mr. Hachey for the Defendant company testified that he phoned the Claimant and again offered to do a service call but the Claimant didn’t want him back. Subsequently, the Claimant retained MacLeod’s Plumbing & Heating.
[10] In his closing argument, Mr. Hachey for the Defendant company argued that any leak occasioned to the pipes during the removal and replacement of the circulator pump on January 9, 2018, was a result of the age of the pipes. He indicated that after the service call on September 10, 2018, he called the Claimant, offered to return, and, at that time, the Claimant indicated that he wouldn’t be paying the bill. At one point, the Defendant company sent the bill to GroupEcho Collections but it was returned as the Claimant was a difficult customer.
[11] Mr. Hachey indicated in closing that the Defendant company was willing to forego its Counterclaim for $362.33. Its Defence remains in place.
[12] As for the Claimant, there is nothing before this court to substantiate his calculations as outlined in the handwritten page attached to Exhibit 1. There are no baseline electrical or heating bills that substantiate a link between increases in those bills and the advent of the leak. Further, the bill from MacLeod’s Plumbing & Heating (Exhibit No. 2) refers to a leak in the “heating line” without any further particulars. It is not for the court to surmise the location of that leak. Further, the Claimant has not refuted the evidence of the Defendant company that the age of the pipes was the root cause of the leak. In addition, there is the following notation in the invoice from the January 31, 2018, service call: “Customer requires a burner technician for a noisy burner. Also would like us to return in warmer weather to drain down heating system to repair a drip on an elbow above heating circulator”: see Exhibit 4, Invoice No. 19079. The Defendant company returned on September 10, 2018. There is no evidence before this court that the Claimant took any steps to have the leak serviced between January 31, 2018 and September 10, 2018 (see Exhibit 3, Claimant’s written response to GroupEcho Collections).
[13] Based on all of the evidence before me, I am dismissing the Notice of Claim filed by the Claimant on January 10, 2019. I also am dismissing the Defendant company’s Counterclaim.
Patricia Fricker-Bates
Adjudicator
June 3, 2019